Dare to Be Different: Howling Wolf Barbeque #Giveaway

Culture teaches us to blend in. In school we're taught to sit still, speak when spoken to, and mind our manners. We abide by moral codes, dress codes, and codes of conduct. When we venture outside of the norm, we reap the consequences of rebellion.

When you blog, it's good to be different -- or, rather, to differentiate yourself.  The world really only needs one Pioneer Woman (and mimicking her style isn't going to win you a book deal or a television show). And, as lovely as Smitten Kitchen is, no one would be very smitten if every blog was just another version of the same.


So, here are a few words of advice that every blogger should follow.

1. Buck the trends. They're only trends, after all. And they, too, shall pass.
2. Find a niche where you feel comfortable today -- and where you're likely to continue to be comfortable tomorrow -- and make your home there.
3. Find your writing voice -- it's one of the most valuable gifts you can give to yourself.
4. Be yourself -- and totally yourself. Let people get to know the real you.
5. Be weird. Be unique. Be random. Go wild. Because you never know who might love the person you otherwise hide.

You won't be surprised when we say that we love companies that follow this advice in the way that they do business... entrepreneurs who approach things just a little bit differently, and who aren't afraid to do exactly what they love... and do it well.

Howling Wolf Sauces, based in Theresa, Wisconsin, was started by Ken Wolfe, a classically trained chef who always had a passion for sauces. Wolfe started in the industry, running a cafe in Wyoming which was known for its outstanding ribs and barbeque. He moved to Wisconsin to focus full-time on marketing his sauces. The sauces, which were featured in Jane & Michael Stern’s 2005 edition of Roadfood, are available at a wide range of local stores including (but not limited to) Metcalfe's Sentry, Sendik's Food Market (Wauwatosa), Tower Chicken, and Woodman's Market.

We love the Howling Wolf line of gourmet BBQ sauces -- not only because they're made locally -- but because they are created in small batches using the finest ingredients available. None of them contain high fructose corn syrup. They don't use irradiated spices. And their products are both extremely flavorful and very versatile.

For example, the Cranberry Orange BBQ can be used as a glaze for Asian sweet and sour, and the original sauce can be mixed with yogurt to take on a unique Middle Eastern flavor. In addition to sauces, the company also makes a collection of spice rubs, of which The Land and Sea Rub is the most popular. It was created to enhance the buttery flavors in fish, but it's equally delicious on pork, chicken, and even steaks. 

Try it on a baked potato! Popcorn! Vegetables!  Use your imagination and surprise yourself.
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We'd like to give you the opportunity to try out a couple of Howling Wolf products for yourself. This is the sixth of seven 5th Burp!-Day giveaways taking place on the blog during the month of June.

One lucky reader will win an 18 oz bottle of Howling Wolf original barbeque sauce, along with a packet of Land & Sea Rub.

To enter, leave us a comment below telling us what you'll do with your barbeque sauce or Land & Sea rub if you win it. For a bonus entry, head over to the Howling Wolf Facebook page and give them a big fat LIKE.  Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know you did just that.

You'll have until NOON on June 30, 2012 to enter.  Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

As an added bonus, since June is Dairy Month, all entrants will ALSO be entered to win a grand prize assortment of hand-selected Wisconsin cheeses.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Howling Wolf, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Howling Wolf BBQ Giveaway

Grab those tongs and throw on your apron! Light up the grill and let's give a big hip-hip-hooray for summer! At least summer SHOULD be just around the corner. You know, in a month or so. ;)

Over here at Burp! we are really excited to get out the lawn chairs and have many weekends of grilling great food with friends. And what better way to share that excitement then with a giveaway?

We want to help you gear up for your backyard grilling by encouraging you to enter to win delicious Howling Wolf BBQ products. You’ll become the master of the grill in no time with this amazing line of sauces and dry rubs!

Chef Ken Wolfe has always had a passion for sauces, smoked foods and BBQ. Wolfe started as an apprentice in California, and then moved to France and worked there for 2 years. He came back to the US and started his own restaurant in Wyoming. It was here at Cafe Wyoming where he perfected his style of barbequing.

Wolfe left the restaurant business to focus on his sauces. Now residing in the great state of Wisconsin, Chef Ken is busy selling his goods at farmer's markets and special events around the state. Howling Wolf products are also available online and in several Wisconsin stores.

What we love about these products?
Well, where do we begin? In addition to being tasty, they're made locally (with a high percentage of local ingredients), which is a huge plus.

They contain absolutely NO High Fructose Corn Syrup. And our Gluten Free readers will be happy to know that all of the dry rubs, as well as the Cranberry-Orange BBQ sauce, are GF.

Want to try them out for yourself?

All you have to do is leave us a comment telling us about your favorite thing to put on the grill. Leave your comment before noon (12pm CST) on June 6th. One winner will be randomly selected to receive one 18 oz. bottle of the Extra Spicy Howling Wolf BBQ sauce (a nice amount of spice, but not TOO much) and a 3 oz pack of the Land and Sea Dry Rub. Please be sure to leave us your email address (if it's not in your profile or on your blog) so we can contact you if you're the winner. The winner will be announced on or after June 6th on our Facebook page!

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTS! AND HAPPY GRILLING!
Congratulations to Denise for being chosen as the winner of the Howling Wolf BBQ Giveaway!



©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Sammiches: BBQ Tempeh with Chipotle Slaw

Alright, guys. It's time to haul out your inner vegetarian. Cuz I've got a sammich here that's gonna make you want to throw your Carnivorous ways aside. At least for an hour or two.

We like to start off with a couple of packages of Bountiful Bean soy tempeh. This stuff rocks. Tempeh is a nutritional super hero -- high in protein, dietary fiber, iron, potassium, calcium, and phytochemicals like isoflavones. The best part is, it's a fermented soy product, which means that your body assimilates the nutrients from tempeh far more easily than it does beans and tofu. Because the enzymes in the protein are partially broken down by the fermentation process, it also doesn't produce any sort of gastrointestinal distress (or gas). The fact that the Bountiful Bean brand is made locally is an added bonus.
We like to take the tempeh and cut it into strips. Then, we nestle it into an 8"x8" glass pan that's filled with a cup or so of homemade barbeque sauce.
Then we take another cup of the sauce and spred it over the top. The tempeh tastes best if it's allowed to marinate in the sauce overnight -- so we try to plan ahead. After the tempeh has marinated in the sauce, we toss it into a 350ºF oven for about 30 minutes until the tempeh has browned a bit and most of the sauce has been absorbed.
While the tempeh is cooking, we make up a batch of our favorite slaw. We like to make ours with broccoli slaw and a hint of chipotle. The smokey flavor is just perfect with the BBQ tempeh, and we can feel good about getting a nice serving of broccoli and carrots with our sammich.
When the tempeh is nicely roasted, we slice open a couple of whole-grain hamburger buns, add a few slices of tempeh and a nice spoonful of the slaw. And we've got ourselves a pretty impressive sammich. Add a side of sweet potato fries, and this is a Friday night dinner that's TOTALLY worth getting excited about.
Don't forget the recipes:

BBQ Tempeh
Chipotle Slaw

This post is our submission to the event, Fight Back Fridays, hosted by Food Renegade. The event promotes the sharing of collective wisdom regarding real, nourishing foods -- and the fight against conventional nutritional thinking. Check it out!


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Burp's Blueberry BBQ Experiment

So, we got it in our craw to make barbequed ribs this weekend.

The desire to make ribs isn't particularly unusual around our house. I'd venture a guess that we do it at least a couple of times over the course of the summer, and sometimes even during the winter months if we get the hankering. We even make our own barbeque sauce most of the time. But, this time it was different.

"Let's do something different," I suggested to Peef.
"OK," responded Peef.
(titillating dialogue we have, I know... it comes from being married for almost ten years)
"How about a blueberry barbeque sauce?" I suggested.
"Ooooh," he crooned, "Let's do that!"

And the adventure began.
Now, blueberries are just about one of my favorite things, so the thought of using them in a barbeque sauce really piqued my interest. I was even more excited when we found these beauties at the market.

Oooh. Aaaah. I could have stared at those blueberries all day long. But, we had barbeque sauce to make. So, I dragged out all of the usual suspects. Apple cider vinegar, ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, onion, garlic... oh, yeah, and a bit of jalapeno pepper and chipotle for some smoky kick.
I whirred the blueberries around for a while in the food processor. And then mixed them up with the other ingredients.
After setting to simmer on the stove for a while, we had something that looked (and tasted) pretty good. So, we rushed out to the grill and slathered it on our ribs.
I'm pleased to say, the ribs turned out beautifully. In fact, they came into the house looking just like this (yes -- surrounded by all sorts of funny little blueberry groupies donning parsley fans!).
I'm pleased to say that the experimenting was a success (and on the first try... we were impressed). The sauce was a slurping good time.

And we licked our plates clean. Well, almost.

Want the recipe? Oh, alright!
Burp's Blueberry Barbeque Sauce


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